> > That pretty much leaves you out of the discussion! > > Vaj: > Not really, as there are probably not that many > other people here who were initiated into the > Saudaryalahari. > The key word here is 'objective' scholar, Vaj.
The Saundaryalahari by the Adi Shankara contains at least three TM bija mantras. As a Sri Vidya adherent and a TMer, I can say without the least hesitation that there are many here who can take the Saunda seriously. That's because the meditation on the bijas mantras enumerated in Saundarylahari is the same meditation as in TM - there is only one single Transcendental in Advaita and in Sri Vidya. After all, our own Guru Dev was a Sri Vidya devotee and he apparently meditated on the TM bija mantras contained in the Saundaryalahari on a twice-daily basis. It is incumbent on all of the Shankaracharya Sannyasins of the Srngeri Matha to meditate on the Saundaryalari bijas, just like TMers do. You would know this if you were a TMer, Vaj. So, let's sum up: According to my sources, the bija mantras used in Indian spiritual practices orginated with the so-called Mahasiddhas, the tantric alchemists of the Golden Age in Indian history. The Mahasiddhas are well known in Indian history - Naga Arjuna, and later, Tilopa and Naropa, the adepts who took the tantric system to Tibet and founded there the Kargyupta sect, which is the path of my teacher, the Trungpa Tulku of Tibet. Apparently the first siddhas in India were associated with the Nath sect - Matysyendranath, who composed the Hath Yoga Pradipika. There is also ample evidence to prove that the tantric siddhas were the precursors of the Tantric Tradition in Kashmere, the tradition of my teacher the Swami Laksmanjoo of Kashmere. According to the Shakaracharya Tradition, the Adi Shankara visited Kashmere in the ninth century, bringing the tantric practices to South India. At Sringeri, the Adi established a matha for the propogation of the tantric teachings and there he installed the image of Saraswati, with the Sri Yantra placed in her hand with the bija mantra of Saraswati inscribed thereon. According to my teacher Swami Brahmanand Saraswati of Sringeri.
